Edit: This is meant to be in the Minecraft Mods section, not this sub forum. If a moderator decides not to delete this could it please be moved to that section?

In light of recent events, I am going to give a clear answer to everyone who ever had a question about mod copyrights. Please make sure to read the whole post before writing some sort of rage to me as you may see your argument already destroyed.

If you make any content available on or through our Game, you must give us permission to use, copy, modify and adapt that content. This permission must be irrevocable, and you must also let us permit other people to use, copy, modify and adapt your content. If you don‘t want to give us this permission, do not make content available on or through our Game. Please think carefully before you make any content available, because it will be made public and might even be used by other people in a way you don‘t like.This is the strongest point in the minecraft EULA concerning mod copyrights. In that, the biggest line is: “you must also let us permit other people to use, copy, modify and adapt your content.” Right here means that if you make content available for the game of Minecraft, then you lose all rights to your code. Others may steal your code and republish it without a thought to the legal consequences as there are none. They may copy sections, decompile it, and do whatever they wish with it. It is no longer yours.

If you've bought the Game, you may play around with it and modify it. We'd appreciate it if you didn't use this for griefing, though, and remember not to distribute the changed versions of our software. Basically, mods (or plugins, or tools) are cool (you can distribute those), hacked versions of the Game client or server are not (you can't distribute those)."If you've bought the Game, you may play around with it and modify it." This line means that if a player legitimately bought the game then the player is free to play it and mod it to the player’s desire no matter what anyone but Mojang says. Modders cannot say 'to play my mod you must be on a vanilla client and/or be playing on a modpack I have approved' as said modder is freely distributing it with a publicly accessible download link. If the client shuts down. This means that by using a mod the player is unable to "play around with [Minecraft]" despite the copy of the game being legally acquired and modifying it as the player wants thus violating the Minecraft EULA.

If anyone was confused by the last section, this pretty much states it clear as day:

Any content you make available on our Game must also be your creation. You must not make any content available, using the Game, that infringes the rights of anyone else. If you post content on our Game, and we get challenged, threatened or sued by someone because the content infringes that persons rights, we may hold you responsible and that means you may have to pay us back for any damage we suffer as a result. Therefore it is really important that you only make content available that you have created and you don‘t do so with any content created by anyone else.If your code does anything to the client computer outside of the game world (Like corrupting world files, shutting down the client, etc.) then the code is violating Minecraft EULA.

I've gotten a few reports of this mod possibly acting maliciously if installed without "permission". Per the Minecraft terms of use: "Please think carefully before you make any content available, because it will be made public and might even be used by other people in a way you don‘t like."

There will also be a future update to the terms that will address malicious code, which is to say anything that intentionally prevents someone from playing the game, or purposefully negatively affects the game experience.

Modders receive permission to play the game and distribute mods from Mojang, just like other players, through the terms of use. They do not get to dictate their own terms of use for content that is created for Minecraft.So in that post: Mod authors do not get to dictate their own terms of use. Every single 'license' that makes a demand of players is against the EULA. So, if a mod author requires that you ask them for 'permission', they are literally making stuff up to please themselves.Furthermore, if a mod author tried to enforce copyright through the use of malicious code, or by other means, they are breaking a legal document they accepted when they paid for the game. As Marc said, this is against the EULA (soon to be updated to include this) and mod authors who do this NEED to be reported to Mojang by responsible and sensible players. It is an affront to the community that authors like this attempt to enforce these rules on honest players.

In addition, if the new Minecraft EULA was not enough to convince you of how this works, let's take a step back and look at it from a legal standpoint, disregarding anything Mojang have issued.

Copyright infringement is a civil crime. To win a civil court case, you have to prove monetary damages. You can't sell mods for Minecraft because the game doesn't belong to you. Therefore, you have made no money of it, thus there are no monetary damages to prove, ergo no case.

To conclude, the only authority that means anything is the authority of Mojang; this new EULA makes their position clear. Any mod author out there which is trying to get people to follow their own rules, or sticks a license on their mod that does not allow unrestricted using, copying, modifying and adapting to all parties, be aware that that mod author is contravening the Minecraft EULA.

If you have any questions for clarification, please leave a post below and I will do my best to inform you better of the legality it concerns.

If you have a negative comment on how I’m a liar, or how my mom sucks, or any other blatant insult; please refrain from making said comment. It would be nice to keep this formal in case there is any real dispute.

Thanks to SXScarecrow (Did a lot of the concluding stuff), MooseMan9, Planetguy, and Richs_Yard for helping with the compilation of this post. It wouldn't be half as great without their help!

Although you do bring up some good points I would like to point out some huge flaws with your post. Before I get into that I would like to mention that regardless of opinions on what these rules mean, the minecraft forums rules "trumps" mojangs EULA when it comes to content that has been posted on this site. Just because it's ok with mojang does not mean it is ok with the minecraft forums or curse.

As for your entire argument, it's invalid. The current EULA only deals with mods that are considered Derived works. A derived work is something that contains parts of the original work. As of now API's such as forge no longer contain pieces of the original game and use patches and other methods to implement itself into the game. Forge is not a derived work and thus is regarded as a separate piece of software. This is also true for the majority of mods that use forge. They do not directly include any of the forge code or any of the minecraft code. They are their own pieces of software.

Furthermore all your points are more so your own opinion rather than factual statements. This is partially due to how you worded your initial argument. It is true that mod authors give mojang the right to use, modify, copy and adapt our content and mojang can also permit others to do the same. As of now mojang has not given the general public the rights to do those things to mods meaning that mod authors still have permission of their mods. In fact as you quoted yourself mojang states that they do not allow others to distribute content they did not create. This entire section is questionable as there are some legal grey areas here for what qualifies as content being distributed on or for their game and because mods are separate software from the game it would be up to the judges or someone with higher legal standing then us to declare what legal documents have higher authority in this situation.

As for marks quote. Just because he says something does not make it true or have any legal standing. This is a direct issue between a mod author and mojang. The two pieces of software are separate and each of the respective authors have their individual rights over their own software.

As for malicious code, the user is modifying how the vanilla game runs. Causing the game to crash or throw an exception is not malicious. It's rude but it certainly dose not cause harm or damage to the user or their software.

Although you do bring up some good points I would like to point out some huge flaws with your post. Before I get into that I would like to mention that regardless of opinions on what these rules mean, the minecraft forums rules "trumps" mojangs EULA when it comes to content that has been posted on this site. Just because it's ok with mojang does not mean it is ok with the minecraft forums or curse.

As for your entire argument, it's invalid. The current EULA only deals with mods that are considered Derived works. A derived work is something that contains parts of the original work. As of now API's such as forge no longer contain pieces of the original game and use patches and other methods to implement itself into the game. Forge is not a derived work and thus is regarded as a separate piece of software. This is also true for the majority of mods that use forge. They do not directly include any of the forge code or any of the minecraft code. They are their own pieces of software.

Furthermore all your points are more so your own opinion rather than factual statements. This is partially due to how you worded your initial argument. It is true that mod authors give mojang the right to use, modify, copy and adapt our content and mojang can also permit others to do the same. As of now mojang has not given the general public the rights to do those things to mods meaning that mod authors still have permission of their mods. In fact as you quoted yourself mojang states that they do not allow others to distribute content they did not create. This entire section is questionable as there are some legal grey areas here for what qualifies as content being distributed on or for their game and because mods are separate software from the game it would be up to the judges or someone with higher legal standing then us to declare what legal documents have higher authority in this situation.

As for marks quote. Just because he says something does not make it true or have any legal standing. This is a direct issue between a mod author and mojang. The two pieces of software are separate and each of the respective authors have their individual rights over their own software.

As for malicious code, the user is modifying how the vanilla game runs. Causing the game to crash or throw an exception is not malicious. It's rude but it certainly dose not cause harm or damage to the user or their software.

Why then, would Marc go out of his way to make such a post? Why would Marc quote the exact things I just quoted to make the same points? By thinking this post is in any way false, you are also saying Marc, an actual employee of Mojang whom probably had a large part in making the Minecraft EULA, was wrong in his post. I might also point out this: https://twitter.com/EnzerDeLeo/status/413771391276556292
Pretty darn clear that it's against Minecraft EULA.

If you won't take it from me, then take it from the horses mouth.

Also, how do the "minecraft forums rules "trumps" mojangs EULA when it comes to content that has been posted on this site."? correct me if I am wrong but as far as I have known, the minecraftforums are third party. I don't think anyone who is third party is doing any "trumping" over a real product.

Why then, would Marc go out of his way to make such a post? Why would Marc quote the exact things I just quoted to make the same points? By thinking this post is in any way false, you are also saying Marc, an actual employee of Mojang whom probably had a large part in making the Minecraft EULA, was wrong in his post. I might also point out this: https://twitter.com/...771391276556292
Pretty darn clear that it's against Minecraft EULA.

If you won't take it from me, then take it from the horses mouth.

Also, how do the "minecraft forums rules "trumps" mojangs EULA when it comes to content that has been posted on this site."? correct me if I am wrong but as far as I have known, the minecraftforums are third party. I don't think anyone who is third party is doing any "trumping" over a real product.

You are ignoring the part where I say the Minecraft EULA can be arguably invalid. As mods are separate pieces of software any issues between mojang and the authors terms would be between them and a judge in a legal trial. It's more of a matter of what legal document takes the priority in that case. Is it the relevant Copyright Act or is it Mojangs EULA? This is a question neither of us is qualified to answer.

As for how the forum rules trump mojangs eula in regards to content posted on this site. That was a disclaimer stating that even if mojang gives permission for things such as hacked clients for griefing to be distributed, if it's posted on the forums, the forums can still remove and infract that user. All content posted on this site is subject to the forum rules.

You are ignoring the part where I say the Minecraft EULA can be arguably invalid. As mods are separate pieces of software any issues between mojang and the authors terms would be between them and a judge in a legal trial. It's more of a matter of what legal document takes the priority in that case. Is it the relevant Copyright Act or is it Mojangs EULA? This is a question neither of us is qualified to answer.

Mods are subject to the Minecraft EULA.

Edit: I have been told that "content" in the terms may not refer to modding. Questions about this should be emailed to support, wherein I will have someone else answer the question.

As for how the forum rules trump mojangs eula in regards to content posted on this site. That was a disclaimer stating that even if mojang gives permission for things such as hacked clients for griefing to be distributed, if it's posted on the forums, the forums can still remove and infract that user. All content posted on this site is subject to the forum rules.

Obviously

Since this post is still being referred to two years later, I'll update and say that if there is a question about whether or not you can do something, go to account.mojang.com/terms. If you still can't figure it out, consult a legal professional or don't do that thing.

You are ignoring the part where I say the Minecraft EULA can be arguably invalid. As mods are separate pieces of software any issues between mojang and the authors terms would be between them and a judge in a legal trial. It's more of a matter of what legal document takes the priority in that case. Is it the relevant Copyright Act or is it Mojangs EULA? This is a question neither of us is qualified to answer.

As for how the forum rules trump mojangs eula in regards to content posted on this site. That was a disclaimer stating that even if mojang gives permission for things such as hacked clients for griefing to be distributed, if it's posted on the forums, the forums can still remove and infract that user. All content posted on this site is subject to the forum rules.

You are very right, yet here comes Marc saying that the EULA does include mods. That's good enough for me. If it's not for you then you can talk it out with him.

As for the Forum thing, fair enough. I was more leaning to the copyright itself but if your just going to go with the content I won't argue.

As for your entire argument, it's invalid. The current EULA only deals with mods that are considered Derived works. A derived work is something that contains parts of the original work. As of now API's such as forge no longer contain pieces of the original game and use patches and other methods to implement itself into the game. Forge is not a derived work and thus is regarded as a separate piece of software. This is also true for the majority of mods that use forge. They do not directly include any of the forge code or any of the minecraft code. They are their own pieces of software.

Clearly, forums do come under their own rules but all content posted here has to always comply with the rules of your lords and masters at Mojang; as Marc impeccably pointed out all content is governed by the EULA regardless of whether they contain pieces of original Mojang code or not. It is NOT considered 'separate' software because it still relies on Minecraft to work. If it worked without Minecraft, then it would be considered 'separate' software. Maybe the EULA should be modified to include this so people do not get confused and are aware that EVERYTHING they create for Minecraft is in fact governed under the EULA.

Legally, you can do whatever you want with a publicly posted mod, and there's nothing they can do about it. Minecraft has a real copyright, these mods just have some stuff someone types to feel better. As long as you do not make any monetary gain using their intellectual property, you can do as you wish with it because it is publicly available content. If you want to put a mod in your mod-pack, there is nothing they can do about it, legally, unless you make any profit.

Now, forum rules are different, any member is still subject to these rules. For example, if someone posts a mod-pack on this forum against the modders wishes, action can can taken within the forums, like deleting it, banning, etc. Also, if someone tries to claim content for their own, you can remove it and remove them.

Let me use a different example, Youtube. If you post a video on Youtube, I can then re-post the video just about anywhere, I can link it, reference it, download it, record it, etc. because this was publicly available content. Now, the minute I make any sort of profit from that video, I need permission, otherwise there will then be legal issues. But again, Youtube will have it's own policies and rules it can enforce within their website.

All that being said, can you do what you want with the content? yes. Should you? NO. Personally I still respect the wishes of any mod authors, based on principal. They spend a lot of time and effort into making these mods, and they receive nothing in return. If they ask you not to do something with their mod, it's just common decency to respect that, they did the work not you. I also encourage everyone to boycott any content that violates the creators wishes.

There is one point left for me regarding mod packs:
If I understand the EULA right there should also be no private mod packs anymore. Why?
Because if you decide to publish it it has to be done without any limitation beside those of Mojang. All issues that affect the mods itself do also affect mod packs, too.

I wrote a massive post before, but for some odd reason it didn't submit. Not sure if it got deleted or not. I think I managed to write a better argument this time around anyway

The basic gist of it though was that you do not give up your rights to your mod if you make it public. You only allow Mojang to the right to copy, modify, and adapt your work, and also any third party that they choose. Just like you don't give up your copyright to a Youtube video if you make it public, it's still your work, or if you write a song and put it up on Soundcloud. There are terms of service for using those services, but at the end of the day it's still your work.

Having said that, there is no stipulation in the EULA requiring you to allow modpacks (or anyone else) to distribute your content, Unless Mojang gives permission.

and you must also let uspermit other people to use, copy, modify and adapt your content.

There is nothing stopping you from distributing it however you like, with the exception of selling it. That you can not do. But you can choose what permissions you give to the public. Open Source, Creative Commons, etc.

You might of gotten the wrong impression from this

Please think carefully before you make any content available, because it will be made public and might even be used by other people in a way you don‘t like.

Because the EULA is written so colloquially, it's hard to tell if it's advice, or a guarantee, but from how I see it, it is advice to content creators who may not understand what it means to give Mojang those permissions. It could end up in third party hands, and you have no say in that if Mojang allow it. I belive this is the case because of this section of the EULA

Any tools you write for the Game from scratch belong to you. . Modifications to the Game ("Mods") (including pre-run Mods and in-memory Mods) and plugins for the Game also belong to you and you can do whatever you want with them, as long as you don‘t sell them for money / try to make money from them. We have the final say on what constitutes a tool/mod/plugin and what doesn‘t.

This section in the Minecraft EULA supports my Opinion that a mod developer's own Eula should be allowed, as it is their work, even though there's no real way of enforcing them, it at least gives content creators a way of covering themselves if their content is stolen for other purposes other than Minecraft. It's just a matter of respect otherwise.

As for

Copyright infringement is a civil crime.

This is true if someone was to seek damages. But most services have a Term of Service that does not allow copyrighted material unless it belongs to the user. A mod developer could theoretically file a copyright infringement notice to a file hosting company if their content was being distributed without their, or Mojang's permission. If it managed to follow through is an entire different story. Certainly be interesting to find out.

I would like to see how the EULA changes in respect to the malicious code, and if the changes will clarify content creator's right to add terms to their service.

Now, forum rules are different, any member is still subject to these rules. For example, if someone posts a mod-pack on this forum against the modders wishes, action can can taken within the forums, like deleting it, banning, etc. Also, if someone tries to claim content for their own, you can remove it and remove them.

All that being said, can you do what you want with the content? yes. Should you? NO. Personally I still respect the wishes of any mod authors, based on principal. They spend a lot of time and effort into making these mods, and they receive nothing in return. If they ask you not to do something with their mod, it's just common decency to respect that, they did the work not you. I also encourage everyone to boycott any content that violates the creators wishes.

First point, this is why I am found predominantly on Technic Forums, and not here. Personally, I find the hostility of the moderators at MCF when it comes to modpacks highly objectionable. A myth has been propagated that mod authors are higher beings that need to be obeyed at all times even when they are being egotistical children. Second point, I do try to obtain specific permissions whenever a mod author is open to such requests, however if a mod author is trying to enforce a control over their mod that they do not have, I simply use their mod whether they like it or not. Courtesy and decency are great things, however it seems some mod authors disagree with the sensible ones amongst the community and act in a highly questionable manner when they think they are being hard done by. I toss donations their way when I can; don't say they get nothing in return.

There is one point left for me regarding mod packs:
If I understand the EULA right there should also be no private mod packs anymore. Why?
Because if you decide to publish it it has to be done without any limitation beside those of Mojang. All issues that affect the mods itself do also affect mod packs, too.

Having said that, there is no stipulation in the EULA requiring you to allow modpacks (or anyone else) to distribute your content, Unless Mojang gives permission.

That quote you reference is lawyer speak for 'Mojang permits all who are bound under the EULA to use, copy, modify and adapt your content.' It does not literally mean you have ask Mojang for permission to do this; its implied.

This section in the Minecraft EULA supports my Opinion that a mod developer's own Eula should be allowed, as it is their work, even though there's no real way of enforcing them, it at least gives content creators a way of covering themselves if their content is stolen for other purposes other than Minecraft. It's just a matter of respect otherwise.

I am glad you clarified that as your opinion, I am trying to deal with facts here. The reason why the new EULA now does not allow content creators to restrict their own content was to try to prevent the community from exploding when a petulant author decides he does not want person A to use his mod in their modpack. There is no way of enforcing them other than through the use of malicious code, which as pointed out above, is 100% against the EULA. Thus, Mojang have attempted to stop this potential usage of malicious code by disallowing mod authors from sticking their own made up terms of service on their mod; it never ends well.

A mod developer could theoretically file a copyright infringement notice to a file hosting company if their content was being distributed without their, or Mojang's permission. If it managed to follow through is an entire different story. Certainly be interesting to find out.

It would be interesting to find out, purely because the mod developer would be breaking the law. Even if copyright was acquired on a mod, and damages could somehow be proven, the fair use defense means that liability would likely not be shown. The following case establishes why a mod pack falls under fair use:

When Nintendo pursued Game Genie for allowing players to customize Nintendo games by editing code, the appellate court held that "a party who distributes a copyrighted work cannot dictate how that work is to be enjoyed. Consumers may use … a Game Genie to enhance a Nintendo Game cartridge’s audiovisual display in such a way as to make the experience more enjoyable.”

This is a fun ruling for two reasons: 1) The owning party cannot dictate how a work is enjoyed, as declared by the courts. 2) Mod packs are certainly designed to make the experience of playing modded Minecraft "more enjoyable" — and are thus fair use.

As modpacks fall under fair use, submitting a copyright infringement claim to stop someone rehosting a mod is against the law; that developer is submitting a false claim, even if their mod was copyrighted, which it is not. Either way, mod developers have no legal recourse, even if Mojang suddenly decided that all mods can be copyrighted, which they will not do.

To conclude:

The EULA covers all Minecraft related content, regardless of whether it contains original code.

The EULA is a legally binding document, issued by a company with an actual copyright on their software.

The EULA states that mod authors cannot stick their own licenses on their mods, cannot stop people from using their mods, and bans anyone trying to enforce a made up license.

Legally, people are free to do what they want with any content posted publicly.

Forums may enforce their own rules but are reminded that they are just that - their own rules and thus they have no authority under the law to do so.

Morally, each person has to decide how to act on this. I pay due respect to the amazing and talented people out there who make mods, but only if they have earned my respect; acting like a child when someone they don't like uses their publicly posted mod means they are most likely not worthy of respect.

To finish, a mod author trying to demand that only certain people use their mod in a certain way is so immature and stupid. If I was a clothes designer, and saw someone wearing my clothes in a way I didn't like, I would not go up to that person and demand or threaten them into wearing them a different way. If I did, you'd probably think I was some sort of nutter.